[sacw] sacw #3 (Pakistan Special 2.) 29 Oct.99

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web Dispatch #3
29 October 1999
[PAKISTAN SPECIAL 2]
_____________
#1. Kaiser Bengali for ending all constitutional amends
#2. Return to civilian rule a must
#3. The Genteel General
#4. Pleas for democracy heard in Pakistan
#5. Pakistani Envoy Awaits Further Instructions
_____________
#1.
The Nation Online
=46riday, October 29, 1999

KAISER BENGALI FOR ENDING ALL CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDS

ISLAMABAD - The military coup d'etat of October 12, 1999, and the
suspension of the constitution is most unfortunate, said Dr Kaiser Bengali,
Central Coordinator, Social Democratic Movement in a Press conference
Thursday.
Accountability, he said, should not be made a tool of forming governments.
Is the army capable of holding accountability? he asked. Who will check the
army, he said.
The only validity of the present structure, he said, was guns.
Kaiser Bengali also said that there was no law in the country.
Equally deplorable, he said, was the conspiracy by the Nawaz Sharif clique
to change the military leadership through underhand means and impose their
henchmen, perhaps with the intention of converting the armed forces from an
institution of national security to one of personal service.
Nawaz Sharif and his collaborators, Bengali said, could be tried for their
offences under due process of law and, if found guilty, punished
accordingly. However the alleged crimes of a handful of individuals must
not be made an excuse for punishing the entire nation, he added.
Kaiser Bengali demanded immediate restoration of the Constitution.
Demanding an increase in the number of MNAs in the Parliament, he said,
his party was unaware of the flaws in the Constitution and the presence of
undesirable elements in the Parliament.
Asking for the restoration of the Parliament he demanded that all
amendments to the Constitution be abolished.
The following amendments he suggested be enacted in the Constitution and
the Peoples Representative Act.
1-Provide for direct elections to the Senate on the basis of proportional
representation.
2-Accord equal budgetary powers to the Senate, with respect to the
National Assembly.
3-Double the size of the National Assembly, with the additional members
being elected on the basis of proportional representation.
3-Empower National Assembly and Senate Standing Committee to enable them
to effectively monitor and control the functioning of the relevant
ministries, so as to ensure compliance with the letter and spirit of laws
and resolutions of Parliament.
4-Provide for parliamentary retification of all key appointments, i.e.,
armed forces chiefs, provincial governors, Supreme and High Court chief
justices, ambassadors drawn from outside the Foreign Service, chiefs of the
federal and provincial election commissions, and heads of public
corporations and authorities.
5-Provide for parliamentary ratification of all treaties and agreements
with foreign governments, organisations, and corporations.
The amendments introduced by General Zia-ul-Haq and Nawaz Sharif, he said,
have distorted the Constitution and the 14th Amendment has effectively
precluded any possibility of an in-house change; thus, creating the
situation for the military take over.
______________
#2.

The Straits Times Interactive
October 29 1999
Editorial

Return to civilian rule a must
By Asad Latif

AN IRONY of the military takeover in Pakistan is that popular protest has
not greeted the abrogation of democracy. The reason for the coup's
acceptance by the masses is less their fear of military reprisals, and more
a sense of deliverance from the elected dictatorship that deposed Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif's government had turned into.

Another irony is that exiled opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, whose
premiership ended three years ago amid allegations of corruption and abuse
of power by elements in her administration, has not denounced the army's
usurpation of civilian authority.

She is eager to return home to contribute to the political process --
that is, have another go at power after the coup leaders have levelled the
playing field somewhat by going after the discredited regime of Mr Sharif,
her tormentor.

Her delight at seeing the political tables turned on him is
understandable. However, it is revealing that a democrat appears to be more
interested in exploring the political opportunities created by the military
intervention, than in lamenting the rupture of the democratic process it
has caused.

The first irony does not prove that Pakistanis are against democracy.
Of course they desire it, like people anywhere: The only country where
citizens abhor democracy is one which consists exclusively of rulers, and
no such country exists.

But when bad governance threatens to overwhelm the system, people do
tire of what passes for democracy. They do not treat the suspension of the
process as a violation of their political rights but as a case of an
intolerable set of rulers getting their richly deserved comeuppance.

That message, from the people to the politicians, bears on the second
irony. As a politician, Ms Bhutto cannot be faulted for trying to make
political capital out of the despatch of the Sharif regime, but as a
democrat, she should remember that the cynicism towards democracy which it
helped to generate can turn against her party as well should it return to
power.

All this is sad.

Pakistan is not the only country that could be served better by its
democrats. However, its inability to rid itself of the pathology of
praetorian rule places it in relief, against other nations that have been
prone to coups as well but have put the past behind them.

What is sad is that the political and economic potential of Pakistan's
gifted and energetic people is being held hostage to a pendulum that swings
towards democracy only to create the momentum for the conditions for
martial rule.

Pakistanis deserve better than to be forced to oscillate between an
elected dictatorship and a non-elected one.

They should not have to depend on a junta to ensure stability, a job
which belongs rightly to the civilian polity, because the armed forces are
neither intended for the task nor equipped to carry it out.

Military rule lacks the quintessential quality of civilian governance:
popular institutions, chiefly the constitution and parliament, through
which competing economic, political and social interests can be negotiated
and compromises struck peacefully.

Apart from this, coups pose obvious dangers to civil and political
liberties by negating or curtailing the powers of parliament, the courts
and the press. This is possible even under an elected government, but it is
almost inevitable under the military variety.

In time, the liberator of the people from "democracy" becomes the chief
jailer of their aspirations for democracy. Bonapartism loves its children,
but it does not allow them to grow into free adults.

These are truisms. Sadly, they are being ignored as Pakistanis welcome
the latest assault on their polity.

The coup is a reality. The hope is that it will be a short-lived one.

General Pervez Musharraf, who has taken over the reins, is a man of
honour: Indeed, he probably has more honour than many of Pakistan's
politicians combined.

He cannot give a better account of himself than by paving the way for a
return to civilian rule.

After that?

Let the Pakistani people keep deciding.

It is their right, and that right is more important than the
irresponsibility of some of their politicians.

[Asad Latif is a senior writer with The Straits Times.]
Copyright =A9 1999 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
_______________
#3.

Newsweek International,
November 1, 1999
Asia

The Genteel General:
Slowly, Musharraf reveals his political leanings. And the nation's Islamic
groups aren't too happy.
By Tony Clifton

They were hardly the dogs you'd expect of the big tough commando who had
just overthrown his elected government. When Pakistan's new ruler, Gen.
Musharraf Parvez, presented his family last week for a photo session, he
also brought his pooches. Not Dobermans, nor Rottweilers, but two cute,
fluffy Pekingese, Buddy and Dot, one under each arm. The dogs, he joked,
were an indicator of Pakistan's foreign policy. "We have always had a
special relationship with China," he said. To devout Muslims, who view dogs
as unclean, the sight of their leader cuddling the pets must have seemed
like an intentional rebuff to their orthodox ways. There may have been
another hidden message in the photo op, too. Musharraf's mother was wearing
a sari, the draped fabric that Pakistanis consider to be "Indian dress."
Could the general be making a conciliatory gesture to Pakistan's longtime
enemy?

Perhaps that was reading too much into the Musharraf family haberdashery,
but the general, nonetheless, is looking almost like a closet liberal. Ever
since Musharraf deposed the country's elected prime minister, Nawaz Sharif,
two weeks ago, the world has been watching for signs of his political
leanings. Diplomats were unsure how he would deal with the country's
Islamic militias, who have been engaged in bloody feuds. Would the commando
who masterminded Pakistan's incursion last spring into Indian-controlled
Kashmir escalate the violence again? Five days after the coup Musharraf
tried to put the world's fears to rest. He ordered the withdrawal of
Pakistani troops from the Indian border, warned the Islamic leaders to
control the militias, then promised to institute democracy. "This is not
martial law, but only another path to democracy," he said.

The speech was a snub to Islamic groups, who want the country to be
governed by strict Koranic principles. Musharraf warned the country's
Muslim clerics "to curb elements which are exploiting religion"=97a referenc=
e
to the warring Shiite and Sunni gangs. He also assured oft-persecuted
minorities, including Sikhs, Hindus and Christians, "that they enjoy full
rights and protection as equal citizens." "It was an enlightened speech,"
says Rifaat Hussain, chairman of the Department of Defence and Strategic
Studies at Quaid-I-Azam University in Islamabad, "and with as secular a
view of politics as you can have in this country."

The most dramatic signal of Musharraf's secular agenda may have slipped
out in an aside to a journalist during the family-photo session. Musharraf,
who was brought up in Turkey when his diplomat father was posted there,
said that he admires Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey and an
advocate of secular government. Musharraf's praise of the man who broke the
power of Turkey's mullahs raised the hackles of Pakistan's religious
leaders. "If somebody has an obsession with Kemalism... he should clear his
mind of all such thoughts," said Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the leader of Jama-at
Islami, the most powerful Islamic party. "The people and armed forces of
Pakistan will not tolerate anysuch system."

Musharraf's cosmopolitan background may explain the surprises. He was born
in India and still has relatives in New Delhi. He learned Turkish during
his six years in Turkey. Musharraf's mother, unusually for a Pakistani
woman of her time, went to university and worked for the United Nations.
Musharraf spent a year in London on military studies. His younger brother
is a doctor in Chicago.

Tackling corruption and reviving the country's economy may be harder than
controlling Islamic extremism. Officials of both the Nawaz and Benazir
Bhutto regimes forced banks to extend huge loans, which were never repaid.
According to government records, there are an astonishing 483,094
documented bank defaulters in the country. Only 1.6 million people pay
taxes in a population of 140 million, and corrupt practices cost the
country about $2 billion a year.

In fact, it's unclear when Musharraf will step down, which puts Pakistan's
American allies in an awkward spot. American Ambassador William Milam, in a
generally sympathetic appraisal of the takeover, told reporters that the
United States is disappointed that the general hasn't said how long he will
be in power. Pakistan's last dictator, General Zia ul-Haq, famously
promised an election "in 90 days," then held on for 11 years, until his
plane was blown up in midair.

Musharraf no doubt will try to prevent crooked officials from taking over.
Bhutto, who is in exile, has been convicted of corruption. Nawaz, who is
under "protective custody," may face charges, too. For now religious
violence has stopped; the army has arrested several tax defaulters, with
promises of more. "If he's genuinely planning to leave," says economist
Shahrukh Rafi Khan, head of an Islamabad think tank, "then he can take the
unpopular decisions." But if Musharraf genuinely wants to stamp out
corruption, he may be around for a long time.

=A9 1999 Newsweek, Inc.
_______________
#4.
The Globe and Mail
Friday, October 29, 1999

PLEAS FOR DEMOCRACY HEARD IN PAKISTAN:
But no one asks Commonwealth delegation to press for Sharif's return
By Paul Koring

Islamabad -- A parade of Pakistani politicians urged a Commonwealth
delegation yesterday to push for an early return to democracy, but none
demanded the restoration of deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif, not even
his own Pakistan Muslim League.

The four-country Commonwealth delegation, led by Canada's Foreign Affairs
Minister, Lloyd Axworthy, met with politicians, senior officials,
human-rights groups and other Pakistanis. It is the first visit by a
foreign delegation since General Pervaiz Musharraf overthrew Mr. Sharif.

The delegation was presented with a variety of scenarios, ranging from an
early reactivation of Pakistan's elected assembly to continuing military
rule aimed at redressing the country's dire economic woes.

"If the assembly is restored then everything else can be worked out," said
Raja Zafor ul-Haq, who was religious minister and senate leader in Mr.
Sharif's government.

If the international team is unhappy with what it hears, it likely will
suggest at a summit of Commonwealth leaders next month that Pakistan's
provisional suspension from the 54-nation grouping of mainly former British
colonies be made permanent.

"The ultimate question of membership and suspension . . . will depend still
to some degree to what commitments the government makes towards a plan, a
proposal, and we won't have a better idea until we meet the general
tomorrow morning," Mr. Axworthy said.

Many delegations said they want "the Commonwealth to continue to engage,"
he said, again suggesting that the Commonwealth might have a role in
rebuilding Pakistan's democracy.

In yesterday's meetings, even the most steadfast opponents to the Oct. 12
coup said the Commonwealth could get more mileage by remaining involved
rather than seeking to isolate or punish the South Asian state.

The Commonwealth should "try to hold this government to certain guarantees
and timetables so that they can watch its performance and keep the
suspension threat pending," said I. A. Rehman, who heads Pakistan's Human
Rights Commission.

Shamsh Kassim-Lakha, head of the Aga Khan Foundation in Pakistan and
president of the foundation's university, acknowledged he "slept better"
than he did three weeks ago.

Ministers also met President Rafiq Tarar, foreign minister Abdul Sattar and
chief justice Saeed uz-Zaman Siddiqui.

Before the coup, widespread violence, both criminal and sectarian, had left
most Pakistanis living in constant fear while the economy was in a state of
near collapse.

"This is an opportunity to create an enabling environment," Mr. Lakha said
of the coup, suggesting that the international community accept that it
would take "two or three" years before democracy could be restored.

Others, not heard by Mr. Axworthy, were even stronger in their endorsement
of the military intervention as a necessity to end the corruption and the
cavalier undermining of democratic institutions during Mr. Sharif's rule.

"If a coup is justified, then it's a good coup and [to] those I have talked
to, this was," said John Nunziata, the independent MP and former Liberal
who is part of the Canadian delegation.

While Mr. Axworthy spent much of his day hearing from Pakistani political
parties, Mr. Nunziata met with businessmen at the Chamber of Commerce, as
well as human-rights activists who also met the minister.

Canadian officials said Mr. Axworthy plans to pay particular attention to
the views of human-rights groups and other non-governmental organizations.

Today, Mr. Axworthy will meet Gen. Musharraf, seeking to flesh out the coup
leader's vague promise to return Pakistan "as soon as possible" to
democratic rule.

Mr. Sharif was allowed to speak to his family by telephone this week, but
otherwise hasn't been seen or heard from since soldiers stormed his
official residence on Oct. 12. Only hours earlier, he had ordered the
abrupt dismissal of Gen. Musharraf while the senior military commander was
out of the country.

Pakistanis, who have suffered through four failed democratic governments in
the past decade, seem resigned, if not enthusiastic, about the prospect of
another military regime.

Generals have ruled the country for 25 of the past 52 years and, despite
their failures, the military is perhaps the only national institution that
commands broad respect.
__________________
#5.

Washington Post
=46riday, October 29, 1999
Page A24

PAKISTANI ENVOY AWAITS FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS
By Nora Boustany

Who said diplomatic life is just a tuxedoed cakewalk down a garden path
strewn with roses and sprinkled with champagne? In the real world, an
ambassador's assignment can get terminated before he even gets the chance
to present his credentials at the White House.

When Ambassador Tariq Fatimi arrived here last month from Pakistan, he was
seen as former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's confidant and key Washington
connection. But within a couple of days after the coup d'etat that ousted
Sharif and put Pakistan's army chief, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, firmly in
power, Fatimi was asked by authorities in Islamabad to "go on leave." He is
still in Washington, living at the ambassador's residence, refusing calls
and visitors and taking long walks, according to members of his household.

"Washington being what it is . . . whichever government comes in tends to
change the ambassador here [and] sometimes things happen very quickly,"
commented one Pakistani diplomat. Pakistani officials said Fatimi is "on
leave and awaiting instructions for his next assignment."

During his brief tenure here, Fatimi, who had presented a copy of his
credentials to Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, received Shabbaz
Sharif, brother of the deposed prime minister, and former intelligence
chief Lt. Gen. Khwaja Ziauddin for cloaked visits to Washington in the
weeks leading up to the Oct. 12 coup. Even if Fatimi is not accused of
complicity in the final hours before the coup, during which Musharraf's
plane was ordered not to land in Karachi and to fly to India or Dubai when
it only had seven minutes' worth of fuel left, Fatimi's links to Sharif are
probably too close for comfort to keep him on such a key ambassadorial
perch.

Fatimi, however, is not one of 18 political appointees who will have to
submit their resignation to the new authorities. A career diplomat for more
than 30 years, which include an ambassadorship in Zimbabwe and a posting as
deputy chief of mission at the embassy here, Fatimi also served in Sharif's
office as foreign policy adviser for the last couple of years. Pakistan
specialists note that, although Fatimi belonged to what became known as
Sharif's imperial court and is "in a shadow right now," he is not in
trouble or fearful of returning home.

Prominent Pakistani-Americans in touch with Musharraf over the weekend
have pressed him to appoint a new ambassador as soon as possible. There are
strong but still unconfirmed rumors that Maleeha Lodhi, who served here
before former ambassador Riaz Khokhar, may return. Deputy Chief of Mission
Shahid Ahmad Kamal, another career diplomat, has been entrusted with the
delicate and unenviable task of keeping the embassy running smoothly
through the shock waves and the changeover to a new team of rulers in
Islamabad.
____________________________________________
SOUTH ASIA CITIZENS WEB DISPATCH is an informal, independent &
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(http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex) since1996.